In general, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to request and transmit resources (e.g., Webpages and Webpage components) over the Internet or other computer networks. For example, resources can be retrieved by invoking a GET method that retrieves whatever resources identified by an HTTP request. In another example, resources can be stored by invoking a PUT method that requests the storage of resources included in an HTTP request.
HTTP is a popularly-used protocol because HTTP has many useful built-in features, such as automatic authentication, and is platform independent. However, with use of HTTP to access resources, the access features built into HTTP can be rather limited.